The present invention relates in general to modular lighting systems, remote control, and laser pointers, and more specifically to remote-controlled lighting systems.
Various remote-controlled lighting systems have been developed over the years. Examples include systems tailored for use in surgical environments, security systems, theater, and hazardous environments. Many of these systems have been very ruggedly designed and are expensive to manufacture. Some systems have incorporated multiple, individually controlled lighting units. The interfaces for the multi-unit systems have been complex, generally requiring a trained operator. In multiple-unit systems, the control function has generally been implemented either over dedicated wires, or over a common information channel, utilizing a separate address code to selectively control individual units. Various mechanical embodiments of motorized pan and tilt mechanisms have been developed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,297, issued to Cohen on Dec. 15, 1981 describes a remote-controllable recessed lighting fixture with pan and tilt features. This design is intended for use in suspended ceilings. Although this design potentially allows for a full 180 degrees (or more) of pan, it is limited to significantly less than 90 degrees of tilt, so the light beam cannot sweep out a full 2xc2x0 steradians of solid angle. Hard-wired remote control significantly increases the expense of installation and limits the ease of remote control.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,486, issued to Tovai on Sep. 5, 1978 describes a remote-controlled positioning device comprising a fixed base with a rotating shaft. A second shaft is mounted to the first shaft at right angles, and a head unit is mounted to and rotatable about the second shaft. The power and control signals for the head unit are transmitted through a flexible cable between the rotating head unit and the fixed base. This design allows for a full 180 degrees (or more) of pan, and a full 180 degrees of tilt, thus allowing a directed light beam to sweep out 2xc2x0 steradians of solid angle. No specific means of remote control is claimed, but the preferred method is hard-wired. This design is expensive to manufacture for several reasons. First, two separate housings are equipped with motors. Second, the flexible cabling must carry both the control and power signals. This makes the cable more expensive, and opens up a potentially dangerous failure mode where a worn cable allows high-voltage power wiring to short to the control wiring of the motors. Again, hard-wired remote control significantly increases the expense of installation and limits the ease of remote control.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,431, issued to Blackwell et. al. on Sep. 13, 1994 describes a multi-unit remote controlled lighting system for a surgical environment, where individual lighting units may be supplied with light from a central source via fiber-optics. Remote positioning is accomplished via cable control.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,187, issued to Bornhorst on Jul. 5, 1995 discloses a multi-unit cable-controlled lighting system for theater use. Remote units are controlled by coded signals over a two-conductor control bus, and powered by a separate two-conductor power bus. Controlled functions include pan, tilt, and dichroic filtering of projected light. This system is complex and costly to install. In addition, each remote unit must have its address physically set differently from the other units in order to be individually controllable. The control interface is complex, requiring a trained operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,176, issued to Sugden on Apr. 11, 1995 describes a computer-controlled array of remote light stations which execute a pre-programmed timed sequence of functions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,168 describes a remote-controlled lighting system for use on a vehicle, where the remote pan and tilt functions may be controlled either via hard-wired means or via a wireless transmitter. The wireless option allows flexibility, but does not teach individual control of multiple units by the same remote.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,082 issued to Bierend on Jul. 9, 1991 discloses a system for the remote control of multiple modular lighting units where pan, tilt, and on/off functions are controlled via coded signals sent over standard AC power lines. This system offers the advantage that dedicated control wiring is unnecessary, reducing cost and installation time, and making modifications easier. However, this system still requires individual lighting modules to be set on a unique xe2x80x9cchannelxe2x80x9d, and the operator must have knowledge of the channel assignments to actuate the desired light from the remote control panel. Thus some training is required to gain facility with the remote control.
Two major lighting markets exist in which remote-controlled lighting could be of great utility, but where remote-controlled lighting systems known in the art do not adequately serve the needs of the market. The first major market is retail store lighting. Most major retail establishments have a large number of ceiling-mounted track lights (often packed in tight groups) which are regularly re-aimed provide the best lighting as merchandising displays are changed and moved. The re-aiming of these lights is a costly, labor-intensive process, usually involving people going up tall ladders in the middle of the night aiming lights by hand. Often the process requires additional moving of merchandise to position the ladder. It is an object of the present invention to provide an economical modular remote-controlled lighting system which allows easy, intuitive selection of individual lights from within a tightly packed group of lights at distances of 20 or 30 feet. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a modular remote-controlled lighting module which dramatically reduces labor costs in configuring merchandising displays, and which may be used as a direct replacement for non-remote-controlled modules in existing installations, with no increase in installation cost over non-remote-controlled systems.
The second major market not adequately addressed by today""s remote-controlled lighting systems is the consumer market. As mentioned in the individual descriptions above, remote-controlled lights known in the art all have limitations such as cost, difficulty of installation, safety, and complexity of user interface, which limit their appeal to the consumer market. In addition, many of the above-described devices are bulky and would not be considered aesthetically suitable for installation in the home, where aesthetics are important. It is an object of the present invention to improve upon the features available in the afore-mentioned devices provide a compact, elegant, economical remote-controlled modular lighting system with a simple, intuitive user interface.
Often stores may have repeated seasonal patterns of displaying merchandise. It is a further object of the present invention to save on needed labor and expertise traditionally needed to re-adjust lighting to previously set display conditions.
The most popular system for remote control of home lighting today is the X10 system (available through Radio Shack and X10.com). Remote controls in the X10 system require the user to know which button on a multi-button remote goes with which light. One of the uses for remote-controlled lighting in the home is to be able to quickly set up various moods and modes in lighting a given room. A mood such as xe2x80x9cromancexe2x80x9d might call for soft lighting. A mode such as xe2x80x9cwatching TVxe2x80x9d might call for certain lights in the room to be off so they don""t cause glare on the TV screen. The X10 system does not allow for pre-programmed moods and modes for sets of lights. It is an object of the present invention to facilitate returning a set of lights to a given mood or mode with the simple pressing of a couple of buttons.
The present invention provides a new means and method for implementing a modular remote-controlled lighting system. This is accomplished through a novel remote control interface with both directional and omni-directional components, in conjunction with low-cost, easily manufacturable lighting modules which allow remote control of pan and tilt, power, and brightness for each lamp. In a preferred embodiment, the user uses a built in visible laser pointer in the remote control to select the lamp module to be adjusted. An indicator on the lamp module lights to show which lamp has been selected, and the selected lamp then transmits its unique address (via infrared or RF) to the remote control. Once the lamp is selected, subsequent remote commands may be transmitted (preferably via RF) to the selected lamp module without pointing at that lamp. Thus once a lamp has been selected, the operator""s attention may be directed toward the subject being lit. This combination of directional and non-directional control provides both intuitive selection and intuitive adjustment after selection. The operator may then control the desired functions of the lamp module (i.e. tilt up, tilt down, pan left, pan right, brighten, dim, on, off), while simultaneously observing the results.
Each modular pan and tilt mechanism allows for a full 2xc2x0 steradians (for instance the bottom half of an imaginary sphere) of solid angle to be swept out by the light beam being aimed. In one preferred embodiment, individual lighting modules are capable of storing a programmed timed sequence of actions and/or a set of pre-programmed settings of position, and brightness. In another preferred embodiment, the remote control is capable of memorizing settings for each lamp in a group, and returning each lamp in the group to its memorized setting with the push of one button. Many group settings can be stored in the remote, and the groups may overlap, so that some lamp modules are members of more than one group.
In a preferred embodiment, once a group of lights is selected, the user may cycle through the individual lamps of the group with the simple press of a button, without having to point at each lamp to select it. Light groups may be selected by selecting an individual light that is part of the group, and then cycling through all the groups that lamp is part of, by pressing a button on the remote. In a preferred embodiment, the remote has an alphanumeric display, and allows the user to name groups. Groups may also be distinguished without being named, by cycling through the groups and watching the individual LED indicators on the lamps in each group light up as the group is selected.
The present invention allows the safe and convenient adjusting of lights that are our of reach, or not visible to a person viewing the subject being lit. For example, the present invention is ideal for adjusting lights on tall ceilings, or adjusting the lighting of a store window display while standing outside the store on the sidewalk. Remote control allows easy adjustment while observing the lighting conditions as they will finally be seen.
Individual lighting modules may be caused to internally store and return to different lighting settings, where such settings can be recalled on either an individual or group basis. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention utilizes position-sensing mechanisms within the lighting modules to store position information. Positioning is done open-loop, and then the position information is sensed and can be stored in the lamp module or the remote, along with brightness settings for later recall. In a consumer setting, this feature might be used to store brightness and position settings for a group of lamps for later recall as xe2x80x9cTV-watching lightingxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cromance lightingxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9creading lightingxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cdining lightingxe2x80x9d, etc.
During the programming phase, the individual lamps are controlled individually. Once the individual lamps in a system have been programmed with different position settings for different lighting xe2x80x9cmodesxe2x80x9d, the entire system can be put into a given mode with the push of a button. In a consumer setting, for instance, one might enter the living room and press the xe2x80x9creading modexe2x80x9d button, causing all the lamps to point toward the chairs and couch. Pressing the xe2x80x9cromance modexe2x80x9d button would cause all the lamps to point toward the walls and dim. Pressing xe2x80x9cTV modexe2x80x9d would cause all the lamps at one end of the room to go out, and the lamps at the other end of the room to dim and point toward the wall. Thus the invention provides a new versatility of for home lighting as well as commercial lighting.
The present invention provides a safe electromechanical design which is economical to manufacture. Safety is insured through a novel design where all control electronics and servo motor mechanisms are contained within a single central housing. Thus if any external cabling is used, only power wiring is run within the external cabling. In a preferred embodiment, power is routed through slip rings within the two rotating joints, allowing 180 degrees of rotation at each joint with no danger of wearing or catching a cable. These design features minimize the risk of any short between power wiring and the control electronics (which could cause fire or injury). The single central housing allows for economical sub-assembly of the electronics and drive mechanisms. The Pan and tilt mechanisms use identical motor/drive sub-modules, allowing simplified manufacturing inventory and reducing manufacturing cost. Novel electro-mechanical design within the central housing allows a common plane of rotation of the pan and tilt motors, allowing both motor/drive modules to be mounted on a common Printed Circuit (PC) board. The incorporation of all electronic and electro-mechanical components onto a single PC board represents a significant advance in manufacturability over previous remote-controlled pan and tilt mechanisms. This assembly technique allows the use of automated assembly equipment and eliminates hand-wiring, greatly reducing manufacturing cost and increasing reliability. The housing of the unit is compact, and suitable for either injection molding or die casting, allowing rugged, economical mass-production.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a rugged, reliable remote-controlled lighting unit suitable for installation and adjustment by unskilled consumers. Novel slip-clutch means integral to both the pan and tilt mechanisms of the unit allow the unit to be manually adjusted without damaging or putting undue stress on the servo drive mechanisms. The position encoders provide an accurate electronic sensing of the lamps position, whether it is adjusted by hand or with the remote. Thus, even hand adjusted settings may be xe2x80x9clearnedxe2x80x9d by the remote, and returned to later. This allows consumers to aim the lamp units by hand when installing them, or at any time that manual aiming is deemed convenient. The slip-clutch feature also prevents damage should the lamp encounter a physical obstruction while being remote-controlled.
Those skilled in the art will recognize the above described features and improvements of the present invention as well as other and further objects, features, and advantages that will become apparent from the following description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention given for the purpose of disclosure.